Who Really I AM

Friday, January 8, 2016

Created for Fellowship and Intimacy with GodI am still on the subject of understanding who I am by revelation, according to the Bible, the manual of Heaven's Inc., the company that produced me.

When it comes to manuals, the most common mistake many people make is to buy a product, assume that they know how to assemble and operate it without referring to the manual. I have done that many times and most likely you have done it. Haven't you? We tend to get back to the manual when things aren't working because we have made a mistake or have reached a dead end. Many times we use the manual only as reference book. Unfortunately, many times we import this attitude towards spiritual things.Many people use, and continue to use, the same approach towards the greatest product ever made in the universe - that is you and me. Once we are born, we start living out our lives without ever consulting our Makers 'manual' to know who we are, where we came from, and what is our purpose. All the information most people know about themselves is what other people have told them or what they themselves have figured out. To live without consulting your Maker's manual, the Bible, is to assume that you know like Him or even better than Him. The Swahili people call this, "Ujuaji," little knowledge which can be very dangerous. Most new products would include a manual inside (mostly on top of the product once you open the box), and with a warning: "Please don't attempt to open this product without reading the manual." Similarly, our Maker's manual has a warning regarding using us without reading the manual. It's found in Joshua 1:8, "Do not let this book of the law depart from your mouth. Meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." There is a great danger of using a product without the maker's instructions. If you do so, most likely you will end up misusing, under-using, overusing, abusing, or confusing it. That's what happens, for example, with your body. The Bible teaches us that our bodies belong to God and are to be used for His glory (For instance: 1 Cor. 6:12b ' . . . yet the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body'). However, if you don't have that knowledge and you refuse to live by it, you will end up either abusing your body or misusing it - whether your own body or other people's. When you live for yourself, for your gratification, you are not living according to the manual and are actually misusing your body. By the way, be very careful which source or manual you use. There are many so called 'manuals' out there claiming to be the Maker's manual but are actually false. Only the Bible is the true manual. Be also careful with getting your information from third parties (like retailers or street vendors) who might misrepresent the true revelation. Third parties manuals includes some aspects of education that contradicts the Maker's manual. For example, someone observed the following about the various disciplines that easily shape what we think and believe about ourselves:For example, Psychology, he observed, tells you that you are a creature formed by heredity and environment, that everything is determined by these factors. Therefore, you are where you were born.Likewise, Sociology teaches that everything is determined by the group, that is, the collective rules. Therefore, you are who you are around.What about Philosophy? Philosophy will tell you that you are a thinking animal. The mind is what makes you unique. Therefore, you are what you think.Additionally, Materialism says that you are a portion of matter, a collection of molecules. Therefore, you are what you eat.Lastly, Existentialism, he observed, will tell you that you are what you make yourself to be. Therefore, you are what you do. (Source unknown).On the other hand, contrary to all these, the Bible, the only true manual, tells you that you are a very special creature, created in the image of God and for a purpose; and therefore you are what God says you are.(Now please understand that I am not against education but the use of learning to contradict revelation. For really what is education? Isn't it learning the very facts and laws that the Maker created? It follows then that proper understanding and interpretation of these laws CANNOT contradict spiritual laws because they were made by the same Mind - God).From here onward therefore, we will go by our Creator's revelation - our Creator's manual, the Bible.Why Man?In Psalms 8:3-9, David says, "When I consider Your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained, what is man that you take thought of him? And the son of man that you care for him? Yet you made him a little lower that the angels, and you crowned him with glory and majesty!"That's a good question that David asked and which has been around for many years. What is man, that is, you and me, that God would think of, especially in light of the enormity of the universe? This question should be even more relevant today because of the increase in scientific knowledge about how vast the universe is. Think about this - the Milky Way by itself has about 400 billion stars and there are other galaxies bigger than Milky Way with over 100 trillion stars. And, by 2013, there were over 200 billion known galaxies. This is mind-boggling. In light of these, what is man really that God should think of?The Message translation put's it this way: "I look up at your macro skies, dark and enormous, your hand-made sky-jewelry, moon and starts mounted in settings. Then I look at my micro-self and wonder, why do you bother with us? Why take a second look?" The VOICE translation is even more remarkable: ". . . I can't help but wonder why you care about mortals - sons and daughters of men - specks of dust floating about Cosmos." What is man that God should think of?There are two things that make man, you and me, very special creatures, very unique, even above angels:1. Man is Created in the Image of GodCreation (the heavens and the earth) shows the glory of God (Psalms 19:1), but only man is created in the image of God. Amazingly, even angels, powerful and as holy as they are, are not created in the image of God. Only man is created in the image of God. We read in Psalms 8:5, "You have made him a little lower than divine beings." Some versions say a little lower than angels, and others a little lower than God. The differences come from the Hebrew word used, "Elohim," which basically means divine beings. In other words, man is made a little lower than God or divine beings. One translation puts it this way, ". . . yet we've so narrowly missed being Gods, bright with Eden's dawn glory." (MSG).The whole point here is that man, being the only one in the image of God, is very special to God. A lot of that honor and glory was removed due to the fall into sin, but, even with that, man is still special to God. When God looks at man (and mainly before the fall into sin), He sees Himself, His image. Now, who doesn't want to see his or her image? That's why God loves and values man. That's why God doesn't want any man to perish (1 Pet 3:9) - and has provided for a way that the original image can be restored through Jesus Christ. That's why God's mind is full of man. We read in Psalms 8:4, "What is man that you are mindful of him . . ." God is mindful of you and me. When someone is mindful of another it means their mind is full of that person. Same with God. His mind is full of you and me. The lyrics of that old song, "In the Garden" still capture this truth very well, "And He walks with me and He talks with me and He tells me I am His own. And the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known."When you see man, you see the image of God, though in a distorted way due to sin. The Bible says that we need to respect, value, and love man because in him is the image of God. We read in James 4:9-10, "With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse man, who is made in the image of God. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be so." It should not be. There is no way you can claim to love God but don't like people, His image bearers. Some people say they don't want to go to church because they can't stand the Christians in there. They claim that many are hypocrites. They say they would rather deal with God only because He is holy and good, unlike men or Christians. But listen to John who is even more more forthright about this. We read in 1 John 4:20, "Whoever claims to love God yet hates his brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen." And, there is a period there.When Jesus was asked what was the greatest commandment, he replied, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself." (Matt 22:37-39). Notice Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment, not commandment(s). He was asked of one but He gave two, or two in one. Why? Because you can't separate them. Man is very special and valuable to God and you can't love one and hate the other.2. Man is Created for Intimacy With GodWhen God created man in Genesis 2:7, we read that He breathed in man's nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being. God did not speak out or command out the breath ( I believe He could have. He did that in Ezekiel's vision of dry bones - Ezekiel 37). Nor did He make the breath but literally breathed His own breath into man. My friend, that's intimacy - sharing breath with someone else! Actually sharing your very whole being with someone else. That's one thing God and man shares - breath or Spirit. No wonder Paul said , "In Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28). That's why man's spirit will not and cannot die. The body, which was made from the earth, will die but the spirit will live forever because it cannot die.The point I am trying to make though is that man, you and me, have the breath of God. When you combine breath and image, then you see not only why man is so special to God but also that he is very close, intimate, with God. Man was created for intimacy and fellowship with God.That's why God used to visit man in the garden of Eden (Gen 3:8-10) to fellowship with him, not because God needs fellowship but because man needs it, and because it was God's plan. Man (you and me) is healthy when he is in fellowship with God. When Adam sinned and fled the presence of God, God came out calling Adam. He called out, "Adam, where are you . . ." (Gen 3:9), not as a police officer looking for faults to give out a ticket, but as a loving father looking for fellowship to restore. And from that day onward, God started the process of redemption through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, to redeem what man had lost at the garden of Eden. This was fully realized at the cross of Calvary by the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. By the cross and faith in Jesus Christ, we are not only forgiven our sins and restored to God, we receive the Holy Spirit, the very breath of God indwells us. The Holy Spirit regenerates our dead spirits (dead to God) so that we can be fully alive and walk and live with God forever. If you happen to read this article and you haven't been restored to God through faith in Jesus Christ, you can do so by visiting www.dfichurch.com or www.dfichurchfredrick.org and contacting me for prayer.

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

In my last blog I concluded by saying that we cannot understand who we really are except by revelation. This revelation has to be from and by our Maker, our Creator, the One who made us. We didn't make ourselves (Psalms 100:3) but were made by a company, as the late Dr. Munroe used to say, called "Heavens Inc." Many people don't know about it because it's not listed in New York Stock Exchange, or London, or Shanghai. It doesn't trade in dollars or pounds or yuan or rubble but in prayer, faith, and revelation. It's total worth is way more than all the world's stock exchanges combined.
A while back we heard of some US companies that had to be bailed out because we were told they were too big to fail. Well, this company, Heavens Inc., is really too big it CANNOT FAIL. It's total worth is "according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus." (Phil 4:19).This company that manufactured you and I has a manual called the Bible and in it it reveals who you really are, which is what we continue to look at.1. You Were Individually 'Formed' by God.You were not mass-produced but individually formed by God. Many times we think that only Adam and Eve were actually 'formed' by God, and that the rest of us were just born by our parents as a result. That means if our parents tell us we were born by mistake or that we are actually a mistake, then we believe it. As you'll see shortly, that is not true. The manual says in Isaiah 44:24, "Thus says the Lord your Redeemer, and He who 'formed' you from the womb..."The difference between Adam and you is that God formed Adam outside the womb but formed you and I, and everyone else for that matter, 'inside" the womb. However, what matters is that, whether inside or outside the womb, you were formed by God.
Adam was so important to God that he was not formed as an afterthought but was actually formed after a Triune meeting in heaven. And just like there was a council in heaven among the Trinity to discuss the creation of Adam, so was there a council meeting in heaven to discuss your formation. In other words, God discussed with the other members of the Trinity and said, "Let us make John, or James, or Mulani , or you, etc, in our own image." This means that you are not an accident but very intentional. It also means that you didn't just start existing when your Pop and Mom came together but rather, your Papa and Mama came together, and actually had to, to bring forth what God had already purposed to happen. That's what the manual says in Psalms 139:16, "Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed . . ."

To put it in a different way, it means that before I was conceived, before I was formed, the complete blue-print of me was available in the mind of God. It was just waiting for the right time and the right people (parents) to be brought forth - and of course God says He is able to make sure it is done. We read in Isaiah 46:10, "Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient timesthingsthat are notyetdone, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure, Calling a bird of prey from the east, the man who executes My counsel, from a far country. Indeed I have spokenit; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it."To illustrate how serious God is in fulfilling His purpose, take King Cyrus, for example. He's referred in the above passage as a "bird of prey," called by God to fulfill His purpose. He is a bird of prey because he was a Persian king who, though his people were the ones who had taken Israel into captivity, God was going to use him to issue a decree to not only send the people of God back to Israel but also give them resources to take with them to rebuild the broken down city of Jerusalem - once the time came for God's purpose to be fulfilled. And just like the ravens fed Elijah with meat although they themselves eat meat, King Cyrus was gracious to Israel although they were really his prey - he was a bird of prey to Israel. We read in Isaiah 45:4, "For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel my elect, I have even called you by your name; I have named you, though you have not known Me." (See Isaiah 45:1ff for more details about King Cyrus' decree).God will use whatever means He wishes to employ to fulfill His purpose.It's clear from the above scripture that God works in this order: Purposes, then speaks out, then does it. You and I are the counsel or purpose of God, spoken in His word and "formed" at the right time. Armed with this revelation, no one, including yourself, should tell you that you were a mistake. And even if they tell you, respectfully tell them they don't know what they are talking about!2.You Were not Casually but Fearfully and Wonderfully Made.We read in Psalms 139:14, "I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are your works, and this my soul knows very well."Fearfully means with great reverence, heart-felt interest, and respect. God not only made me with reverence but also had, and still has, heart-felt interest in me. That's why God loves and thinks of me all the time.Yes, the Almighty God is always thinking of me. He says in Psalms 139:17-18, "How precious are your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them. If I were to count them, they would be more in number than the sand. . . " And we also read in Jeremiah 31:3, ". . . I have loved you with an everlasting love, I have drawn you with loving-kindness." Max Lucado illustrated it so well when he said,“If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it. If He had a wallet, your photo would be in it. He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning... Face it, friend. He is crazy about you! ”You are so important to God that He so loved you that He gave His only begotten Son, so that if you believe in Him you should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). I like the way C.S. Lewis put it, "He died not for men, but for each man. If each man had been the only man made, He would have done no less.” That's why it hurts God when anyone dies in sin and perishes (Ezekiel 33:11, 18:23). Remember, hell was never created for man but for the devil and his rebellious angels (Matt. 25:14). We were made in His image, intended to dwell, fellowship, and have intimacy with Him forever.In addition to being fearfully made, David also says that we are wonderfully made. Wonderfully means that you and I are unique, set apart, and marvelous. It means I am intentionally created different from any other person on earth for a purpose. This knowledge frees me from inferiority complex and the nagging fear of comparing myself with others. It means I shouldn't strive to be like others or better than them, I just need to be the best me. You see, no one will ever be the best me unless I do it. Moreover, unique doesn't mean I am better than you but that I am just different from any other person for the goal of fulfilling the purpose He has for me.Some people like who they are too much, in the sense of being proud, thinking they are better than others. That is not right. On the other hand, other people don't like the way they are. Some hate their shape, color, race, height, place of origin, and wish they were born different. That's not right either.Our Racial Background is by Divine Design.In Acts 17:26-27a, we read, "From one man He made all nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and He determined their boundaries . . .He did this that they might seek Him" From this passage we can infer three things about who we are:1. God is the one who made ethnic groups, nations, and/or races.He is the one who has made one black; another, white; another Hispanic; and another, Chinese, etc. On a similar note, we read in 1 Cor. 4:7, "Who made you different from the other. . . " The answer to the rhetorical question is of course, God. 2. God set their times of existence beforehand. Have you ever wondered why you are living now instead of 2000 years ago or 100 years ago or in the future? Remember Mordecai's words to Esther in Esther 4:14, ". . . Yet who knows why you have come into the kingdom for a time like this?" She probably thought it was coincidental that she won the "Miss Persia" beauty contest and happened to be the queen, the first lady of the empire. Remember the book of Esther is the only book in the Bible that doesn't mention "God" and yet God and His providence are clearly manifest throughout the story. Mordecai was of course trying to tell her that she needed to know that it was God who made her exceptionally beautiful and who put her there in the palace, a position of power and influence, at a time like that for a purpose - His purpose of salvation. 3. God determines their boundaries. Or to put it differently, God determines their limits - in power (rise and fall), influence, and even geographically locations and habitations. He is the one who makes one stronger than another, and for a purpose.The whole purpose, the Bible says, is so that men and women would seek Him. In other words, the purpose is redemptive or salvific. The totality of who I am (including my biological, physical, geographical, parental, social, psychological backgrounds) have been predetermined by God for the purpose of my redemption and that of others. This is obviously hard to understand because we are not God and our minds are not as infinite as His but we have to believe it, accept it, receive it, and start praising Him for the totality of who we are. We have to know it, not only in our heads, but as David says in Psalms 139:4, ". . . my soul knows that very well." And then praise Him!(Visit www.dfichurch.com or www.dffichurchfredrick.org)

Saturday, December 19, 2015

"When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples,“Who do people say the Son of Man is?"Who really are you? If you ask most people that question, most of them will answer by telling you their name. They will say, "I am John Mbithi, or Charles Johnson, or Paul Mulani, etc." But do you know that your name is only what man calls you or says you are? You see, someone came up with your name and said you shall be called so and so. That person could be your mom, dad, or even you yourself. Remember when we say "men" or "women" it includes you. Someone came up with your name, gave it to you, and you believed it and own it.Now I am not downplaying the power of people naming you. In fact names by people are very important and powerful. That power was given to the first man, Adam in Genesis 2:19b, ". . .and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name." Period. That was it! Both in heaven and on earth! Adam looked at the elephant and called it "elephant," and that became that! He looked at giraffe and called it "giraffe" and that became it's name. Even the first woman, Eve. The man looked at her and named her "Eve," and that became her name. Whatever name man gave any creature, that became its name and even heaven said "Amen" and registered it in eternal records. In other words, your name that man gave you is not only known here on earth but also in heaven and will be so even after this life.Did you know, for instance, whenever an angel appeared to someone, they called them by their name? For example, "Annanias," or "Manaoh," or "Abram," etc. Why I am saying all these? To show you that I am not downplaying the power of man's names, and that there is actually power in what men have called you.A very good example is found in John 1:42 regarding Peter. We read, "And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said,“You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas”(which, when translated, is Peter.)"We see that Jesus acknowledged Peter's existing name as "Simon bar Jonah." He said, "You are . . . but you will be . . ." You are Simon now. That's what People called you. That's what your mother and father called, and still call you. And as a result, that's what you call yourself, but you will be called Peter. This is future. You will be called "Cephas."When did this future naming take place? It's found in Matthew 16:18, which reads, "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it." Jesus was no longer saying, "You will be Cephas," but rather "You are," it's now, present tense. Peter was now Cephas.What happened for the shift to take place in Peter's life? Revelation. Peter started operating in revelation of who God says he is, not what man (including himself) says he was. And that's what will happen to you as well when you start operating in revelation of who God says you are, and not man.Let's look at the passage in whole and in context - Matthew 16:13-20:"When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples,“Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah."

The whole incident starts with Jesus asking his disciples what men said that He, the Son of man, was. They said that some folks thought that Jesus was John the Baptist; others, Elijah; others, Jeremiah; and others one of the prophets. That's what people said Jesus, the Son of Man was. And imagine this was after Jesus had done so many miracles and said so many words that proved he was not just an ordinary man!

Notice how off the mark people (without revelation) were,and can be, regarding who Jesus Christ was, and is! We are here talking about God in the flesh, the Eternal God, and yet men are putting Him on the same level with Elijah, John the Baptist, and the prophets! We are here talking about the One who made Elijah and the prophets and send them out being put on the same level with His creation and His people. This is the One who said in John 8:58, "Very truly I tell you . . . before Abraham was born, I am!" As you can see, it is very clear that man cannot know who Jesus Christ is without revelation. Not even one of them was close to figuring out! That's why when Jesus turned and asked his disciples who he was and Peter responded by saying, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God," Jesus did not applaud and congratulate Peter but rather deflected all the praise to God by saying, "Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my Father in heaven (v.18)." And that was the time Jesus told Peter, "And you are Peter . . . " That is, when Peter begun understanding by revelation who Jesus Christ was.

Let me say again. Man will never figure out by their intellect, regardless of how many miracles they see, who Jesus Christ is, except by revelation. They will always remain "Simon," so to speak, and not "Peter." They will always be what man says they are, until they start operating in revelation - that's when they become "Cephas," a "Stone," or Peter.

Here is the point:You can never know who Jesus Christ is unless by revelation. You can never know who you are, unless by revelation, and you cannot know what other people are, really, unless by revelation. You'll call them "monkeys" or "useless" because you only know them by how men calls and views them. By revelation I mean understanding in your spirit through the Word. Paul writes in 1 Cor. 2:14, "The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit." In other words, they are not understood by the mind but by your spirit, and for your spirit to understand, it will have to quickened by the Spirit of God.

In the same passage in the preceding verses, Paul writes in verses 9 -10, "But as it is written:

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,Nor have entered into the heart of manThe things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

But God has revealedthem to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God."

Let's face it, if no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered the heart of men, how will man be able to speak what he has not seen or heard and what is not in his heart about you? The Bible teaches that from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh (Luke 6:45). If it is not in the heart, how will man speak it? You see, man (including you) will call you what he has seen with his eyes, heard with his ears, and what is in his heart. He cannot do anything else. That means, if all that you know about yourself is what man has told you, then most likely you are very much off the mark. You need to understand yourself by revelation. That's why verse 10 talks about revelation: "But God has revealed them to us through His spirit. . ."

What are the "them" referring to in verse 10? These are the "things" God has prepared for us. What are these things?

I used to think that these are the things Jesus went to prepare for us when we go to heaven, like the heavenly mansions of our inheritance. But are they really? A closer look at the context shows that they are not futuristic but present. They are for now, here on earth because it says, "God has revealed them to us by the Spirit." That's present tense, not future tense. Another reason you can be sure it's not talking about future things is because it says in 1 John 3:2 that what we will be has not yet been revealed to us. We read: "Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed to us . . ." However, our passage says that these things have been revealed to us by the Spirit, and that they are spiritually understood.

The passage also calls them "deep things" of God. What are these deep things of God? They are deep things of God about you and me, about who I am in Christ, that if you understand them well, it will blow your mind, and change not only how you view or call yourself, but also totally change your performance. Yes, it will completely change you and how you view yourself. Someone rightly observed that most of us were created by our manufacturer (God) to perform at 180 miles per hour but we have been operating at 40 miles per hour because we believed what man told us we were capable of. For example, some of us believe what the results of exams tell them about themselves. We believe the result of exams that we take, don't we?. If we fail in the exams we believe we are failures. The question is, who set the exam, man or God?Here in America people without papers are labeled as "Illegals." This is what man calls them. But is that what God calls them? Think about the many people that God used mightily who would be "illegals" in the eyes of man? Think of Daniel, Moses, Esther and Mordecai, Jacob, Abraham, etc. You see, it is very easy to end up believing what man through his systems tell us we are. If we don't have any other means of understanding, like revelation, we will have no choice than to accept man's witness of us.

So, in light of revelation, who really are you?

David, who understood this very well put it this way in Psalms 139:14: "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful,

my soul knows that full well."

(We will pick up from there next time - Coming soon!)www.dfichurchfredrick.org

Most people would not dispute the fact that there is nothing impossible with
God. But did you know the Bible says that nothing is impossible to him/her who
believes? Mark records the words of Jesus to this effect in Mark 9:23b saying, “If you can believe, all things are possible
to him who believes” (NKJV). The NIV puts it this way, “If you can?” said
Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”

Let’s get the context. A man came to Jesus and pleaded with him to heal his
demon-possessed son. Before this he had taken the boy to the disciples of Jesus
but they were not able to cast out the demon. He then brought him to Jesus and
pleaded with him, if he could, to cast out it out. At that point Jesus politely
corrected him, “If I can?” and then made the powerful statement, “All things
are possible to him who believes.” The next verse reads, “Immediately the boy’s
father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

Unbelief in Belief

What did the father mean by the statement, “I believe, help my unbelief?” I
believe he meant that he believed in Jesus as Lord and Savior. He believed that
Jesus was the Son of God and therefore able to do all things. However, he had difficulty
in believing Jesus’ statement; that all things are possible to him who
believes. Though he believed in Jesus’ ability to do anything, he couldn’t see
how he himself could cast out that demon. That’s where he needed help from
Jesus. And he confessed and cried for help from Jesus, “. . . help my unbelief.”

The disciples also needed help. At this point in time, Jesus had given them
authority over all the powers of darkness (Luke 10). I believe they did
everything Jesus told them to do about casting out demons but the demon still
refused to come out. Later on, when they were by themselves, they asked Jesus
why they were not able to cast the demon out. Jesus responded, “This kind can
come out only by nothing but prayer and fasting” (29b). Matthew records the
same event but adds some extra points. He records in Matt 17:20, “So Jesus said
to them, ‘Because of your unbelief; for assuredly I say to you, if you have
faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, move from here to there’
and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind
does not go out but by prayer and fasting.”

According to Matthew, the reason the disciples could not cast out the demon
was because of unbelief. It wasn’t just little faith, but unbelief. It means
they did not have faith at all. Many other times Jesus rebuked his disciples
for their little faith but not unbelief. This time, it was unbelief. Does that
mean they didn’t believe in Jesus Christ? No, they obviously believed in Jesus
Christ. What was their unbelief in then? It was in knowing who they were – that
if they themselves believed they could do the same things Jesus was doing, therefore,
nothing will be impossible for them.

Strengthening your faith by Fasting

Did you know that prayer and fasting
strengthens your faith? Yes, it does. There is a relationship between their
lack of faith or unbelief and their lack of fasting and prayerlessness.
Although Jesus never told his disciples they must fast, he assumed that they
needed to be fasting (Matt. 6:3,7,17).

Jesus himself started
his ministry by fasting for 40 days and nights. I used to think that Jesus
fasted for me so that I didn’t have to fast. How lucky could I be? Although
Jesus’ fasting was for himself and his ministry, he also did it to set an
example for us. Everything that Jesus did by his life was to set an example for
us to follow. The only thing that he did for me so that I would not have to do
it again was to die on the cross to pay for my sins. No one needs to do that –
suffer crucifixion and death in order to pay for their sins - unless they
reject his offer of salvation. Everything else is for our example so that we
can live like he did. If you want to have the same authority that Jesus
exercised over demons and “mountainous” circumstances, you will need to
practice prayer and fasting and your faith will be strengthened.

What was the result of
Jesus’ 40 days and nights of prayer and fasting? It was power. We read in Luke
4:14, “Then Jesus returned in the power
of the Holy Spirit to Galilee, and news about him went out through all the
surrounding region.” There were times when Jesus rebuked demons out while
other times demons screamed out without Jesus saying any word because the power
of the presence of the Holy Spirit was troubling them. Demons cannot torture
people who are spirit-filled. On the contrary, the presence of God in such
people’s lives can torture demons to an extent that they become uncomfortable and
leave. Prayer and fasting connects you to the source of eternal power, strengthening
your faith to move mountains.